Junior
Kami Lambert scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as the No. 14 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team earned a hard-fought 3-2 win on the road over Wesleyan Sunday afternoon in NESCAC action.
The Bobcats (7-5, 3-4 NESCAC) defeated the Cardinals (3-7, 1-6 NESCAC) for the seventh straight season.
In the 17th minute, Bates got on the board first thanks to a penalty corner. Junior Ella Blum (South Salem, N.Y.) delivered the insert to the right side of the circle. Junior captain Paige Cote (Auburn, Maine) received the pass and ripped a shot on goal that Lambert (Augusta, Maine) tipped into the cage for a 1-0 lead.
But the Cardinals answered right away, earning a penalty corner of their own just seconds after the Bates goal. Helen Deretchin received a pass off the insert and fed the ball to Diana Schwarz in the middle. Schwarz was able to tally the equalizer just 23 seconds after Bates had jumped on top.
Bates struck again in the 21st minute. Cote was able to take the ball away from a Cardinal in the near corner and she crossed the ball perfectly into the circle for Lambert, who one-timed it home for her team-leading seventh goal of the season. Cote's second assist of the day was her 10th of the season, most on the Bobcats.
Up 2-1 at halftime, Bates recorded an insurance tally in the 35th minute. Lambert continued her outstanding game by forcing a turnover and feeding the ball ahead to Blum. All Blum had to do was beat the Wesleyan keeper, which she did for her fifth goal of the season.
